Black birds against a gray sky

A flock of black birds against a gray sky

suddenly dispersing

in more directions than you knew there were

leaving the gray sky gray

the city park trees darkening with jackdaws

the city park trees loud with sharp utterances

that gnaw against each other

like diamond whetters against ski stick tips

against ski stick tips

loud against

diamond whetters

ski stick tips

the city park

trees

Japanese calligraphy

across off-white paper

Fast Japanese calligraphy

across slow yellow paper

Velocities tearing at matter

densifying and thinning

into forms of pleasure and disgust

Matter velocifying out of reach,

below the horizon of events

MALCOLM

scribbling

out of the countryside of Vermont

MALCOLM

gnawing

out of the electric circuits of Montreal

strings corroding

under his bow of prey

fiddle body swelling

under showers of sweat,

creaking

in the swell of gravity waves,

like an old galleass

on southern seas

So much youth

out of all this age;

so much NOW

out of all these years:

MALCOLM,

whose bow and strings can mimic distant church bells

through all this atheism

MALCOLM

rapelling

down those nerve ends

to the bottom of pain